The Mazzei family with their vast knowledge of growing grapes and olives has created a new Sicilian olive oil, Zisola. The Mazzei of Tuscany new estate in Sicily is just outside the magnificent town of Noto, a town celebrated for its incredible Baroque architecture. The Mazzei family recognized the potential of the estate upon first glance, ideally located for wine and olive oil production with its rocky soil, intense summer sun and Mediterranean breezes. The project of restoring the somewhat neglected estate was ambitious and the results would prove to be spectacular. The family worked hard to have the magnificent buildings on the estate restored and the 50 hectares of land replanted with vines and olive trees. This added to the landscape of existing ancient olive trees, citrus and almond trees.
The Mazzei family has deep roots in Tuscany were they produce the award winning Chianti of Castello di Fonterutoli. Lapo Mazzei, the patriarch of the family, says, “I envision our family tree as a strong and generous grapevine, because the entire history of the Mazzei family is inextricably entwined with the vineyards and wine.” As part of the agriculture endeavors of a wine producer other crops are grown amongst the vineyards. Olive trees are grown on vineyards with climates that support the needs of the olive tree, allowing them to thrive. In addition to Zisola, the Mazzei family produces another exceptional olive oil at Castello di Fonterutoli.
At Zisola the olive trees are trimmed in a vase shape to allow sunlight to reach the olive fruit within and to assure even ripening. The olives are harvested semi-manually with the assistance of pneumatic olive tree shakers. Olive fruit is pressed within a 36 hours of picking using the Continuous cycle method. The resulting oil has heady aromas of almonds, apple and green grass with a lovely golden green color.
Olive cultivars: Moresca, Ogliarola Messinese, and Nocellara Aetna
500 ml/16.9 oz
Click here for Zisola 
